Researchers at the National Institutes of Health have identified DNA variants in mothers and fetuses that appear to increase the risk for preterm labor and delivery. The DNA variants were in genes involved in the regulation of inflammation and of the extracellular matrix, the mesh-like material that holds cells within tissues.

“A substantial body of scientific evidence indicates that inflammatory hormones may play a significant role in the labor process,” said Alan E. Guttmacher, M.D., acting director of the NIH’s Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD). “The current findings add evidence that individual genetic variation in that response may account for why preterm labor occurs in some pregnancies and not in others.”